Nov 14, 2012

7 Amazing Ways Nanotechnology Is Changing The World

Tiny nanoparticles are a huge part of our lives, for better or for worse.

“Everything, when miniaturized to the sub-100-nanometer scale, has new
properties, regardless of what it is,” says Chad Mirkin, professor of
chemistry (and materials science, engineering, medicine, biomedical
engineering and chemical and biological engineering) at Northwestern
University. This is what makes nanoparticles the materials of the
future. They have strange chemical and physical properties compared to
their larger-particle kin. The thing that matters about nanoparticles is
their scale.

Nanoscale materials are used in everything from sunscreen to
chemical catalysts to antibacterial agents--from the mundane to the
lifesaving. “I spilled wine at a Christmas party once, and I was
terrified. Red wine on a white carpet. And it wipes right up,” Mirkin
recalled. “The reason is the nano-particulate used to coat the carpet
keeps that material from absorbing into the carpet and staining the
carpet.”

On a more sophisticated side, researchers are developing nanoscale
assays used to screen for cancer, infection and even genes. Gold
nanoparticles that have been doped with DNA can be used to detect
bacteria in a person’s bloodstream, determining whether a patient has
infection and what kind. Or they can be used to detect changes in a
person’s immune system that reflect the presence of cancer. Nano-flares
can measure the genetic content of cells, and light up--or flare--when
they detect a specific cell of a doctor’s choosing, maybe cancer, stem
cells or even the reaction to a small molecule used in a new drug. ...